Maligned or praised... biscuit joinery,
as it is referred to in the United States and Canada, first got
it's start in Europe. Herman Steiner, a Swiss cabinetmaker, developed
and manufactured the first plates under the proprietary name
Lamello. Lamello is derived from the German word "lamelle"
which translate to "thin plate".

Today, Steiner Lamello, Ltd. has grown
to manufacture a full line of plate joiner equipment, several
sizes of biscuits, special application machines and accessory
items. All of Lamello's products capitalize on the ease of use
and adaptability of Mr. Steiner's original inventions.

Made known and first marketed in the
United States some twenty years past...plate joinery was slow
to catch the eye and hands of the American Woodworker. Speculation
on why the popularity of the system was slow to catch on ranges
from suggestions of outright rejection to unperceived value on
the part of the woodworker, but I believe the latter is probably
the primary cause of it failure to initially catch on. Steiner's
plate joiner was and still is the most expensive joiner on the
market. The Lamello Top Ten usually list for $699.00, although
it is often sold for around $559.00 by one major mail order firm.

Now thanks to Freud, Porter-Cable, Makita,
Ryobi, Delta, Skil, lower priced Lamello machines, OEM machines,
the much-heralded DeWalt and other brands, even the hobbyist
on a budget can afford to enjoy the simplicity and versatility
of biscuit joinery. One company has even made an adapter for
a hand-held electric grinder which allows for slotting for the
three conventional biscuit sizes. Companies such as Woodhaven
have developed proprietary biscuits and router bits which provide
an even less expensive way to enter the biscuit joinery craze.

Eventually, this article will attempt
to cover the latest in biscuit sizes and accessories for special
applications such as knock-down construction, hinges and "clamping"
biscuits". For now, we will deal with the basic operation
of the machine and the three common sizes of biscuits.

How A Biscuit Joiner Works

If you compare many of the plate joiners
to hand-held electric grinders, you will find the shape and other
attributes to be strikingly similar. In fact, in some cases the
basic electric grinder was simply converted to a plate joiner
by some manufacturers. With the added base for stabilization
and plunging action, the tool was easily converted to its new
use.

The basic operation of the plate joiner
depends on the ability of the faceplate to slide backward and
forward, so that in turn a four inch blade is plunged into the
workpiece. The blade cuts a slot which approximates the shape
of the plate which is to be inserted in the slot.. As there
is a certain amount of lateral torque from the action of the
motor and blade as the machine is plunged, most plate joiners
have some sort of anti-skid feature. This feature may be small
retractable pins, rubber surfaced face plates or simply a raised
and roughened area on the faceplate.

Types Of Joints

While there are many joints and applications
to be made with a plate joiner, there are basically four joints
which are in common use. Other types will be discussed later
in this article, but for now the basic four will be covered

Edge To Edge-While some may disagree,
I feel one of the joints which biscuits enhance is the edge to
edge lamination such as found in a table top or other panel.
In this application, biscuits provide little, if any, added strength,
however in my experience they are unsurpassed in allowing for
easy and accurate alignment of the assembled components.

Miter joints- Whether for frames, boxes
or columns are also strengthened and aligned easily with biscuit
joints. A plate joiner with an adjustable fence makes quick work
of the assembly of a five or more sided column or a simple rectangular
box with mitered corners.

Butt joinery- Edge to end grain joinery
is quickly accomplished with a plate joiner. Cabinet face frames
and picture frames are just two of the assemblies which can be
made with this joint.

Other Butt Joints-Carcase partitions
and other dividers as well as carcase tops and bottoms can be
accurately made with the plate joiner.

Biscuits-The Three Conventional Sizes

There are at least nine sizes or configurations
of biscuits made from wood or wood products. Conventional biscuits
are made from compressed and die stamped beech. Beech trees are
first cut to length, dried, squared and then milled into lath
material. The lath material is then compressed and stamped into
the various sized biscuits. The three standard sizes (0, 10,
and 20) will be discussed first, with the remaining to be covered
later.

#0=5/8" wide X 1 3/4" long

#10=3/4" wide X 2 1/8" long

#20=1" wide X 2 3/8" long

All of the above biscuits are .148 "
thick and all manufacturers of biscuits fairly well adhere to
this standard. The tolerances between the thickness of the biscuits
and the width of the slot cut for them is important, but not
entirely critical. The blade of the cutter machines a slot which
is 5/32" or .156" wide. The biscuit as it absorbs moisture
from the glue or other source swells to .164"(+-) thus insuring
an extremely strong bond between the slot wall and the edges
and sides of the biscuit.

The length of the slot varies with the
setting of the plunge mechanism. It is important to take the
slot length into account to insure that the cutter will not "bust
out" the edge or ends of any of the components being joined.

Following are the slot lengths for each
of the standard biscuits:

#0-2 3/16"

#10-2 7/16"

#20-2 5/8"

Slightly more(1/32"-1/16")
should be added to each of the above measurements(especially
on softer materials) to insure that the blade does not push through
the ends or edges of the material due to movement of the machine
or its torque.